Nguyen Van Lem

Nguyen Van Lem (1932-1 February 1968) was a Viet Cong captain during the Vietnam War.

Biography
Nguyen Van Lem was born in 1932, the seventh son born to a Vietnamese family, and he joined the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War. He became a captain of a death squad which targeted South Vietnamese "traitors", allegedly killing an ARVN colonel, his wife, their six children, and the officer's 80-year-old mother by slitting their throats. He was captured at the An Quang Pagoda on 1 February 1968 and brought to Brigadier-General Nguyen Van Loan, who ordered his men to shoot Lem. When his men refused, Loan took the revolver himself and shot Van Lem in the temple. Lem's death was filmed by NBC news cameraman Vo Suu and AP photographer Eddie Adams, and it outraged and disgusted the American public.